I’ve been to the Bear Cafe three times. Once with Julian’s grandmother, for his sister’s graduation, and my friend’s birthday. Everyone who has grown up in this area knows about this restaurant, but of course, my parents were never the types to spend money on dinner, let alone a fancy dinner. The entrees are anywhere between $20-30 so I understand why they never took me here. Generally speaking I don’t go to such restaurants (with an American menu, and Hefty prices), but I was pretty excited the first time I was treated to go. I remember feeling extremely disappointed with my food, thinking that with a $30 entree it must be at least $15 better than my favorite meals at other restaurants.
It has a nice back room with four tables and a fireplace, with a dimly lit romantic atmosphere. The most recent time I went, I ordered the $34 Filet Mignon. We had a bottle of wine for the table, and one cocktail. When my food came, I remember thinking that it was nicely presented, with the mashed potatoes decorated with a pipping bag. The part that really angered me was that there were only two asparagus (for $34 they couldn’t give more veggies?), and they weren’t even that good. I had to leave half of one because it was clearly the end you’re supposed to cut off. I also found the staff to be pretty unfriendly. My friend had thought maybe we were, “being a bother” even though we were clearly spending a lot of money and not at all being obnoxious. I have consistently found my experiences here to be disappointing.
The Bear Cafe
295 Tinker St
Woodstock, NY 12498
Phone: 845.679.5555
http://www.bearcafe.com
